John Tory, the new mayor of Toronto, assumed office on December 1st 2015.

Before becoming mayor he ran before in 2003 and came in 2nd place. During the 2003 election John Tory attempted to bribe John Nunziata to pull out of the race, and the resulting scandal handed the mayoral office to David Miller instead, who became mayor of Toronto from 2003 to 2010.

After that scandal, John Tory left Toronto politics and instead became leader of the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party. However in 2007 John Tory made a big whoops when he proposed extending public funding to religious schools that teach isolationist creationism, Christian studies, Islamic studies, Jewish studies, Mormon studies and a host of other religious schools. John Tory made clear during the election that he believes the world is only about 6000 years old and that he supports creationism, the idea that the sun revolves around the earth, and that god created the heavens, earth, animals and mankind in six days.

So yeah, that didn't go so well. Right-Wing Christians didn't like the idea that the funding would also go to Islamic, Jewish and Mormon schools. Secular people didn't like the idea of public money being spent on religion. Muslims, Jews and Mormons welcomed the idea, for the most part, but the resulting media controversy ended up hurting John Tory's campaign and he lost to the Ontario Liberal Party.

John Tory then left provincial politics and focused on his radio show before eventually returning to Toronto to seek the mayoral office one more time.

But here is the thing.

John Tory is a religious nut / carpetbagger, and he is incompetent.

Carpetbagger, in case you are wondering, is a term dating back to the American Civil War and refers to unscrupulous opportunists who tried to make money after the war was over during the rebuilding process.

That is what John Tory is. In the wake of Rob Ford's horrific tenure as mayor, John Tory saw an opportunity to make money (and feed his ego), by swooping in and becoming mayor.

So far much of Toronto has been grateful to John Tory for rescuing us from the horrors of Rob Ford, but at what price? A religious whackjob who can barely do math, doesn't know that Toronto sometimes has blizzards in April (and apparently doesn't know when to send snow plows out), and is basically just here to make himself and his cronies money.

Below is a photo of the blizzard from April 3rd 2016. Driving winds and an abundance of snow resulted in cars sliding into ditches and car accidents all over the GTA, but where were the snow plows? I didn't witness a single snow plow until after 11 PM, which means there was hours worth of traffic accidents because John Tory was refusing to take the blizzard seriously. It is unclear how many people died on Sunday because there were no snow plows on the roads.

Meanwhile on the money and corruption front...

During his Rob Ford proposed a TTC spending frenzy that would have included a deal to give Rob Ford's relatives billions of dollars to build new subways, but would have gone over-budget and would have seen the Ford family line their pockets with tens of millions. It would have resulted in skyrocketing TTC fares - which we saw skyrocket during Rob Ford's mayoral tenure.

John Tory's plan is to focus on improving service in Scarborough, more subways in Scarborough and reducing wait times in Scarborough. Why? Because he wants the votes of people in Scarborough.

Which sounds great for Scarborough, but what about the rest of Toronto?

And how much will it cost?

$3.5 billion. Probably more because these projects always skyrocket.

Unclear where the money is coming from. Raising taxes in Scarborough or all of Toronto?

And who gets the money to build it? Some friend or family member of John Tory, just like Rob Ford had planned to do?

We need to be keeping track of where this money is going and whose pockets are getting lined.

He had returned to taking chemotherapy treatment - an extremely painful treatment which often kills the patient instead of curing them.

However unlike many other publications which have sugarcoated their descriptions of Rob Ford's life, we are going to be honest about him.

Rob Ford was a wife beater.

His wife Renata called police on numerous occasions to complain about domestic abuse. One time she even alleged that Rob Ford was taking the kids and leaving the country with them, effectively kidnapping them. However after every domestic abuse incident she would always refuse to press charges against Rob Ford. She flip flopped, as many domestic abuse victims often do, and Rob Ford would eventually abuse her again later.

Our sympathies go to Renata. She is finally free of the man who had been abusing her for many years.

Rob Ford was an addict.

He was a crack cocaine addict, smoked both crack and marijuana, was fond of having "drunken stupors", and a party animal. His crack cocaine addiction, which he eventually admitted to publicly, was a major scandal and was a large factor in his downfall as mayor and his career suicide.

While his addiction did not hurt anyone (that we know of), it did effect his personality. The people of Toronto weren't really surprised when it was revealed Rob Ford was on crack, because his erratic behaviour indicated that he was definitely not normal.

His brother, Doug Ford, was an enabler. Doug Ford was a drug dealer during the 1980s and never got convicted of any major crimes thanks to their rich father bribing the right people. Even an incident of kidnapping and forcible confinement never reached the court system thanks to money greasing the right hands, and the Ford family managed to maintain their appearance of being law abiding even if they were secretly a family of malcontents. As such Rob Ford's younger days was a stepping stone towards his drug addiction and his supportive brother, rarely concerned about his brother's heath and instead supportive of his party animal lifestyle, was simply another nail in the coffin.

Years of heavy drinking, over eating, and drug addiction eventually paid a toll and he developed cancer, as many people do who battle alcoholism and drug addiction. His alcoholism and frequent drug use was a factor in his anger issues, and therefore a symptom of such behaviour was that he would abuse his wife, which was often.

Rob Ford was not a good human being.

He was a bigoted hateful asshole. A fear-mongering, racist, sexist, homophobe, pathological liar, delusional megalomaniac. To call him "scum" would have been putting it lightly. He has been compared to all manner of historical despots, although our favourite is Prince John (of Robin Hood fame). He was a leader undeserving of the title. He was utterly corrupt, unapologetic and ruthless when it came to anything he despised - and it didn't take much for him to hate people.

Like all despotic party animals his lifestyle was eventually his downfall. It ruined his career and his health, eventually leading to his death.

Rob Ford's legend will live on in infamy. He is widely regarded as the Worst Mayor in Toronto History.

Anyone reading this should take this as a lesson of what not to do. Live your life free of drug addiction, free of alcoholism, free of spousal abuse, and try to be a nicer person to your fellow human beings. Rob Ford knew very little about the simply joys that come from being a nicer person and being free of the demons that plague your dark side. Rob Ford had many demons and he should be pitied for having so many, but he should not be remembered with fondness because he was a horrible human being. Even those who knew him best, like his wife, will be happy to be rid of him.

Many people hate Rob Ford, and that is quite understandable, but we ask that you let go of your hatred for him now that he is dead. Be content that any damage he did has been reversed and that his only true legacy will be a reminder of what happens when you let hatred and addiction ruin your life.

Below in photos you see wife beater Rob Ford fawning over Mike Tyson - a convicted rapist, and a known wife beater from his first marriage. There is also unproven allegations that Mike Tyson strangled his 4-year-old daughter in 2009 with a cord and made it look like an accident.

For Mike Tyson, chumming it up with corrupt politicians like former mayor Rob Ford was a way to try and clean up his image and hopefully people will forget about his past rape conviction or that people suspect he murdered his four-year-old daughter - and then got married to his 3rd wife just 11 days after his daughter died. Some people suspect that his new wife murdered the daughter.

So yeah, two wife beaters chumming it up for the sake of their personal egos.

Meanwhile in other news, there are still suspicions that Rob Ford was somehow involved with the shooting death of Anthony Smith, one of people involved in creating the infamous crack video.

Anthony Smith, on the left, was killed on March 28th, 2013. He was gunned down by an unknown assailant, possibly a hitman sent by the Ford family. Rob Ford claimed "I had nothing to do with it." when the Toronto Sun’s Joe Warmington asked about whether he was involved somehow with the shooting.

Muhammad Khattak was also injured during the same incident, suggesting that someone was trying to kill both of them.

Several charges were laid against various people after the shooting, but some were dropped and it is unclear whether police ever caught the true assailant.

Muhammad Khattak claims he was never involved in the making or selling of the Rob Ford crack video and is still alive.

Most of the people believed to be involved with the creation of the Rob Ford crack video / the murder of Anthony Smith are all either dead, in prison, or awaiting trial.

With the exception of Rob Ford himself. He is still alive and free to brag about it.

Final Note

Mike Tyson claims he is now dying of alcoholism. Another thing him and Rob Ford have in common, addiction to alcohol and "drunken stupors".

The Ford brothers’ rallying for Stephen Harper’s election campaign drove potential GTA voters away from the Conservative Party more than the Duffy trial did, exit polling has determined.

“It was clearly a mistake to be seen with the Fords,” pollster Greg Lyle explained on Tuesday. “It didn’t really rally the base, it pushed away swing voters. Not a good move.”

His firm, Innovative Research, conducted polling over the four days following the election, asking voters if certain factors in each party’s campaign made them more or less likely to lend their support.

Each factor was assigned a score: the percentage of voters who said it made them more likely to vote for the party, minus the percentage of those who said less likely. The more positive the number, the better that factor played, the more negative the number, the worse.

The poll also identified each party’s set of swing supporters — the voters who'd been on the fence before Election Day.

Among the Conservative’s swing voters, Harper’s appearance at an Oct. 17 event organized by Rob and Doug Ford earned a net score of -33 per cent. It proved the most overwhelmingly negative factor for swing voters regardless of issue or party.

The Duffy trial scored -30 per cent.

Lyle said the information should discourage politicians from buddying up with the Fords in the future. But, he’s not sure how closely they’ll take heed.

“It’s pretty clear the Ford brothers are the third rail of Canadian politics right now. But they never quit, I mean they just keep coming,” he said.

The Conservatives had a string of negative scores on the major factors in their campaign, boosting the argument they ran a poor campaign.

“Harper’s campaigning” itself was a net negative for swing voters (-11 per cent), as was the “Conservatives' advertising” (-26 per cent).

The party’s niqab stance was a net positive (23 per cent). The promise to introduce a “barbaric cultural practices” tip line, however, tipped negative (-2 per cent).

“That divided swing voters,” Lyle said about the tip line.

The Liberal Party, meanwhile, had only positives scores.

The promised “tax cuts for middle class/increase for high earners” earned a 56 per cent, followed closely by “Trudeau’s campaign” (55 per cent) and “Trudeau’s debate performance” (51 per cent).

As for the NDP, its plan to raise corporate taxes was the most positive factor among its swing voters (47 per cent), while the only negative was the party’s place in the polls (-8% per cent).

Above: The most hated Canadian Prime Minister shakes hands with Toronto's most hated mayor.

Former Toronto mayor Rob Ford is in "excruciating pain" and a new tumour has been found on his bladder, brother Doug Ford says.

Ford's medical team at Mount Sinai Hospital discovered the
tumour after Ford, 46, was hospitalized for several days last week with
abdominal pain, a statement released by his office on Wednesday said.
The Etobicoke councillor is at home now, but is expected to return to
hospital tomorrow.

"I've never seen him in this much pain," said an emotional Doug Ford.

Doctors have yet to determine if Ford's tumour is new, or if it's
potentially related to the abdominal liposarcoma he was diagnosed with
last year.

"At this time, we are still awaiting testing results to determine if it
is related to the previous growths, as well as whether it is malignant,"
the statement from Ford's office said.

Ford will get additional treatments to deal with the tumour, though the statement didn't specify what type.

Ford also tweeted, saying he's "optimistic" he'll recover.

"Councillor Ford and his family wish to extend their continued
gratitude for the thoughts, prayers, and support that they have received
during this difficult time," the statement said.

Doug Ford said the new tumour came out of left field and was a major blow to his brother's morale.
"It's tough right now," he said.

Thanks to health problems Rob Ford has decided not to run for re-election as mayor of Toronto.

Instead his brother Doug Ford has decided to step up to the plate - opening the door to a Ford Brother is vaguely more competent.

New polls show that Doug Ford is in 2nd place - but polling these days are notorious inaccurate because they only poll people who are at home, and who own home phones (landlines). It does not poll people who own only a cell phone - or people who have call display and refuse to answer the phone when an unknown number calls them.

The most recent poll by Forum Research Inc. shows the following:

John Tory at 41%
Doug Ford at 34%
Olivia Chow at 19%

Just days ago a similar poll pegged Rob Ford at 28%. Switching to the drug dealer brother instead of the drug addict apparently boosted Ford Nation's chances of winning by 6%.

A different poll from Mainstreet Technologies gives different results:

John Tory at 45%
Olivia Chow at 27%
Doug Ford at 16%

So unless something disastrous happens (like the polls were incredibly inaccurate as to be nowhere near the result) John Tory will likely be the next mayor of Toronto.

It would be nicer if it was closer to 40% Tory, 40% Chow, and 20% Ford... then at least election night would be less likely to be a landslide victory for Tory.

John Tory as you may have heard is basically just "Rob Ford Lite" - all the Conservatism, but with none of the crack-smoking or boozing.

Which means for the right-wingers, this election is basically fixed and rubber stamped. Most people are voting for either "Rob Ford's Brother" or "Rob Ford Lite".

Well, let us amend that by creating a new phrase instead of conspiracy. Conspiracy means it is a small number of people who are secretly working towards one goal.

No what is happening here is not a conspiracy by any normal definition. It is too public and many people involved - with different goals and reasons for why they dislike Rob Ford.

Cyclists.
Librarians.
People who like libraries.
"Orientals" who feel offended.
Women who don't like being groped, who don't like husbands who hit their wives, and women who don't like the mental abuse of being called a "pussy" by their husband in a very public manner.
People who find lies or "drunken stupors" deplorable.
Students from Rob Ford's old football coaching days, who dislike being called "minorities" in a degrading and racist fashion.
People who dislike it when white men use the n-word. (Or when anyone uses it for that matter.)
People who are upset that Rob Ford has broken his promises about subway expansion. He promised expansion, but do you see any work being done???
Anyone who finds the act of using drugs and alcohol (to the point that impairs their ability to work) while in public office an unforgivable offense.
Etc
Etc

Basically almost everyone has a reason to join a very public "quest" to have Rob Ford removed from office. It is not a conspiracy, it is a quest like the Crusades. Every person Rob Ford annoys is one more person in the army of people who want Rob Ford out of office.

And yet according to Rob Ford's lawyer, Rob Ford has officially checked into rehab in the USA, but he won't say where.

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford boarded a private plane to Chicago last week, but when he arrived in Chicago he then withdrew his request to enter the USA (leaving him in legal no-mans-land on the airport tarmac). The private plane reportedly then left Chicago, but it is not publicly known what its flight plan was.

What is known is that Rob Ford was on the plane and that the plane has not landed in either the USA or Canada, according to both U.S. and Canadian officials.

Last week, the mayor took a private plane from Toronto Buttonville Municipal Airport to Chicago, but the Consul General of Canada in Chicago has confirmed that Ford did not formally enter the USA.

Upon arrival on Thursday, Ford spoke to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the Consul General of Canada in Chicago. At that point, Ford withdrew his request to enter, then departed in his private plane.

It is not known why Ford withdrew his application after flying to the "Windy City" from Toronto, nor is it known where the mayor went after the plane turned around and went elsewhere.

Rob Ford's lawyer Dennis Morris said he was not on the plane with the mayor, so he couldn't comment on what went on south of the border. Dennis Morris says that the fact that the mayor is in rehab is "amazing", but he will not disclose his client's location.

The whereabouts of Rob Ford are unknown nearly a week after the Toronto mayor announced he was taking a leave of absence to seek professional help for a substance abuse problem.

The day after Ford flew to Chicago, his lawyer confirmed to CTV Toronto that the mayor had checked in to a rehab facility but refused to confirm the location.

And since his plane has not landed in Canada or the USA, it is possible he has flown to Mexico, the Bahamas, or a Central American country.

DECO Labels and Tags (one of the largest label companies in the world), the business owned by the Fords which made them billionaires, has its U.S. headquarters in Chicago, and the family maintains a residence in the city.

His ties to the Illinois city fueled speculation that he flew there to check into a local rehab facility, but there was no confirmation that Chicago was the mayor's final destination - and since he did not enter the USA according to the border patrol he must have gone somewhere else.

Ford's announcement followed a series of damaging reports containing new allegations about drug and alcohol use and inappropriate comments about a colleague that came out on Wednesday night.

The mayor told the city clerk he was taking a leave, but vowed to stay on as mayor and seek re-election in October. His notice of leave of absence did not include a return date.

So for all we know Rob Ford isn't even in a rehab. Probably somewhere getting drunk and high right now.

The above quote is from the transcript of Rob Ford's latest drunken rant while at a Toronto pub, during which Rob Ford announced his intention to leave Toronto after he is done being mayor of Toronto and move to California instead.

This shows that Rob Ford hates Toronto - something I have pointed out previously on this blog. He certainly does not love Toronto. He just loves being the guy in charge and bullying people. Bullying people is what he loves.

So if he loses his re-election bid, if he drops out of the 2014 mayoral election, even if he did miraculously win somehow and stayed for 4 more years (unless kicked out of office for corruption or arrested for illegal activities) - the end result is clear. As soon as Rob Ford is done being mayor of Toronto, his intention - by his own words - is to leave Toronto and move to California.

Rob Ford left his home today in the wake of a new crack cocaine video showing him smoking crack, and also in the wake of drunk comments (possibly high comments too) he made at a bar.

Since the appearance of the new video and audio Rob Ford announced that he will be taking a leave of absence to go to rehab. It is unclear where Rob Ford will be seeking rehab treatment - possibly somewhere in the USA.

A friend of the family carried his luggage to a car and then Rob Ford got into a 2nd car.

It is also unknown how long Rob Ford will be gone. Could be a week, two weeks, a month, or more.

To be effective treatment he should be there a minimum of 3 months. Possibly even 6 months.

However we would wager odds Rob Ford won't even make it to 2 months - because he lacks the patience to stay there longer, and because he will want to get back to Toronto in an effort to establish himself for re-election.

However we would also guess that an extended stay might actually help his re-election chances. It would show he was serious about change. If he stayed at rehab for May, June, July and August - and then return 50 lbs lighter, sober and drug free - well then he could say that he has changed his ways somewhat.

But if he returns after only 1 or 2 months then he will likely relapse and the hilarity will continue as Torontonians shake their heads in disgust at our buffoon of a mayor.

In case you haven't seen the screen shots from the new crack video here they are.

The following audio recording was made while Rob Ford was drunk (and possibly high) at a Toronto bar.

The audio contains a lot of derogatory comments about his political opponents - and even his one time allies. No doubt this audio will burn a few bridges.
The video shows that Ford is the type of politician who burns bridges instead of building them.

Toronto needs a mayor who builds things. Not someone who smokes up and burns everything, including his own reputation.

Below is an uncensored transcript of an audio tape of Rob Ford speaking at a bar. Parts of the tape are inaudible and the other speaker has not been identified.

Rob Ford: “. . . fucking flag up ahead of our Canadian flag. I said no . . . bullshit. Then they said they went to Queen’s Park and Tim Hudak comes out and said I agree with all the gays . . . That’s it. I lost my conservative values . . .(inaudible)“. . . No, they went. The gay organization goes to Queen’s Park . . . At Queen’s Park you have to have every member to vote for. No, no, no, Tim says you know what I think that’s right . . . Right there, he lost my vote.“I can’t vote Liberal because I don’t like what Wynne is doing, not because she’s gay or not, I just don’t like corruption. NDP, I’m just not left wing. I am like Tim Hudak, but I can’t, I won’t put a sign up . . . I might have to vote Green, I don’t know what the fuck I’m going to vote now. I have to vote something, but I’m absolutely going to vote. I’m probably going to vote Green because guy didn’t say a fucking word . . .”(inaudible)“. . . I don’t mind as long as they vote. I’d rather they vote against me than not vote at all. I’d rather lose to Olivia Chow than lose to anyone . . .’(inaudible)“. . . I’m not coming back. Once I’m done, I’m done. I’m going to California.”Other speaker: “How about Karen Stintz?”Rob Ford: “I’d fucking jam her. (Laughter) I’m so sorry I forgot there was a woman around . . .”(inaudible)“. . . There’s no secret service . . . there’s no secret service . . . I’m not the normal mayor, I’m not the normal mayor. Brother, I’d fuck her wife . . . I won’t go that far.”Other speaker: “When is the last time you smoked a joint?”Rob Ford: “It doesn’t matter. I, I, I, these guys want me fucking covered. I said nobody’s going to cover me, I’ve got everything under control . . . I’m good. Is this your wife? Get a shot right now or I’ll fucking (inaudible) . . . I don’t mind talking politics . . . I’d pound this every day . . .”(inaudible)“. . . If you don’t get a shot in two seconds I’ll knock your fucking teeth out.Other speaker: “Everyone is allowed their downtime.”Rob Ford: “Get her two shots . . .”(inaudible)“. . . I’m fucking sick of politics dude look at my record, I’m going to win, we’re going. You’ve got two choices, Olivia Chow . . . it’s the same vote. You vote for Tory, you vote for Chow.”Other speaker: “You’re splitting the vote.”

If a new video came out showing Rob Ford doing appalling acts, I really would not be surprised. The man will do anything for attention.

And he is certainly a glut for personal vices and exploring the dark seedy underbelly of society.

I don't know if the photo below is real or faked, but I really would not be surprised if it was real. We already know he enjoys beating his wife and committing sexual assault (groping unwilling females at social events), so something like what you see in the image below really isn't that surprising.

The following is a list of Rob Ford's proclaimed accomplishments... including 6 that he actually voted against. The list was researched and written ...

By Matt Elliott of Metro News

Two months after registering for re-election, Mayor Rob Ford finally has a campaign website.

There was what seemed to be a mad rush to get it ready it over the weekend, prior to the mayor’s appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live. Ford did manage to get in a quick plug for the site while talking to Kimmel. You probably missed it because you were cringing and hiding your eyes.

It’s probably good that the website isn’t getting a ton of attention, because it’s packed with inaccuracies. In addition to a biography that claims Ford is still coaching football at Don Bosco Catholic Secondary School — he was banned from coaching by the school board almost a year ago — the site also has an “accomplishments” section that plays very loose with the facts. So loose, there’s no choice but to do an exhaustive fact check on every single item — my biggest fact check ever.

The following are the list of accomplishments taken off Ford’s website on Monday, March 3. Don’t blame me for the weird capitalization — it was like that when I got there.

But it’s not just the presentation that feels haphazard. The list itself actually leaves out or glosses over a few things that Ford probably should be at least attempting to present as accomplishments.

Of the accomplishments the list does include, several of them are based on bad data. Some are so vague as to be almost meaningless. And at least six of the mayor’s accomplishments relate to things that Ford actually voted against, either as mayor or as councillor.

Here’s the list:

Introduced a Customer Service Reception Desk in City Hall

I can’t find any record of Ford bringing an item to council to create this desk, but there does seem to be a desk near the entrance of city hall where people can ask questions.

Made Nathan Phillips Square Safe and Inviting for Citizens

Ford may be referring to one of two things here. Either this is about a Sue Ann Levy column that complained about too many homeless people in the square, which prompted Ford to complain to the city manager and apparently step up enforcement. Or it’s about the Nathan Phillips Square Revitalization project.

If it’s about the latter, Ford doesn’t have much room to brag. The project began long before Ford became mayor and in 2007 he voted against it. (Page 95) Later, as council debated the 2009 capital budget, Ford moved to remove all funding for the project. (Page 6)

Improving Communication with the City through 311 and mobile apps

311 was a project of the previous administration. Ford was against it. On December 8, 2009, Ford moved to eliminate all funding for plans to implement it.

Improving TTC service

On January 10, 2011, Ford announced his first budget would cut service on dozens of TTC routes. Since then, the fare subsidy for the TTC remains below 2010 levels and the system is wracked widely-reported instances of crowding.

Made TTC an Essential Service

Yep.

Improving Toronto EMS and Toronto Fire Services

Too vague to verify.

Renewed public faith in TCHC

Ford is likely referring to his move to replace the TCHC Board following a 2011 spending scandal. Sure, many felt that action was necessary, but that was also three years ago. Is there still reason for the public to have faith in TCHC? The waiting list for social housing in Toronto has grown from 78,187 in early 2011 to 90,157 last fall. Meanwhile, the TCHC CEO appointed under the Ford administration has been dogged by issues relating to HR practices. The board has since forced him to get more management training.

Made Council more Transparent & Accountable

It’s unclear exactly what this means. In 2010, Ford did propose a series of reforms designed to increase transparency but many of them were not implemented. Most never even came to council or committee for debate.

Posted More Expenses Online

Councillors were already posting their expense online when Ford took office. Under Ford, staff do post expenses made with city-issued credit cards, though the usefulness of this data can be questioned. Still, we’ll give him this one.

Adopted Whistleblower Protection By-law

A true fact.

Eliminated the Personal Vehicle Tax (PVT)

Yep. Though, contrary to Ford’s common refrain, doing so didn’t save the city $240 million somehow.

Reduced Council Expense Budgets

He did. Though council later instituted further reforms that included the creation of a general expense budget shared by all councillors.

Contracted out Garbage Collection

Partial credit. Ford technically only contracted out garbage collection service in one of the city’s four districts. One district was already contracted out prior to this term. Half the city continues to receive city-run service.

Stopped out-of-control spending growth at City Hall

I’m not sure it’s possible for this to be any more vague. Most of the city spending growth over the last decade has been to the gross operating budget, while the net operating budget has grown slowly. This is an important distinction, as the gross budget includes services funded by user fees and transfers from other orders of government. I’ve written lots about this.

Lower Debt- Reduced planned debt by $808 Million

The city’s debt has actually increased under Ford, though that’s due to prior commitments. Planned debt has in fact decreased under Ford, but some of that is because of offsets from a financing strategy introduced in 2012 that banks on operating surpluses and the sale of city assets.

Recently, though, Ford OK’d a plan to increase city debt to build the Scarborough subway extension.

Found over $600 million in permanent efficiency savings

Gee, I thought it was a billion dollars? What happened?

There are many ways to quibble with these figures. It’s important to note these kinds of efficiency savings are not new. Mayor David Miller’s final budget achieved $167 million in savings alone.

Balanced the operating budget, for the first time ever, without using any prior year surplus

Sure, but it’s worth noting that Ford has yet to balance a budget without using one-time revenues. This year, he used just under $70 million in reserve funds — which were funded at least partially through prior-year surplus money in previous budget years — to balance the budget.

Total reduction in City staff of 1,346 since 2011

I get slightly different numbers, but this appears to be accurate enough. The city offered staff buyouts in 2011.

This feels more like a statement than an accomplishment, but yes, the strategy does exist. But it was adopted in 2004.

New Collective Agreement with full and part-time workers

Yes, but again, this is the political equivalent of me bragging about putting my shoes on in the morning. Of course a new collective agreement was put in place — the old one expired. Ford is missing an opportunity to brag here.

Eliminated the 5-cent bag tax: Ensures that retailers have a choice in charging for plastic bags.

A couple of problems here. First, it was never a tax. It was a mandated fee. Second, Ford only managed to eliminate the fee after council made a surprise decision to ban plastic bags altogether but then were forced to back off after city lawyers got involved.

Focused public debate on building subways as Toronto’s long-term rapid transit strategy

True enough, I guess. We’ve had lots of debate about subways over the last three years. But even with Ford’s focus, the TTC and Metrolinx are still in the process of building three LRT lines. I’m not sure Ford’s got much to brag about.

Investing in the TTC: The 2013 budget included over $500 million in new TTC funding

This is a weird one. It’s a very specific claim, but it’s hard to know what it refers to.

It’s definitely not about increasing the TTC’s operating budget. In 2012, the TTC’s operating subsidy from the city was $411 million. It was exactly the same in 2013. So no increase there.

On the capital side, the 10-year capital plan in 2012 included $6.184 billion for the TTC. The 2013 plan boosted that to $6.392 billion. That’s an increase of $200 million, which you’ll note is significantly lower than $500 million.

Station Modernization Program: Existing station upgrades, including Pape and Dufferin stations

The TTC’s plan to modernize subway stations predates Ford’s term by several years. The program was first discussed in 2007. Funding for the project became available through the 2008 city capital budget and plan. Ford voted against that budget. (Page 14)

Signal System Replacement: Signal System replacement will improve subway system capacity and reliability

This, on the other hand, did happen during Ford’s term. The TTC authorized $90 million in expenditures for signal system replacement on March 30, 2012. However, it’s worth pointing out that this happened after Ford lost all influence over the TTC, so it’s fair to ask if he or his office had anything to do with the decision.

Resurfacing hundreds of kilometres of roads and filling around 200,000 potholes every year

Putting $500 million into maintaining the Gardiner Expressway- a key transportation artery

We’ll take these three together. The 10-year capital plan approved in 2010 included $1.699 billion for state-of-good-repair projects relating to the city’s transportation department. In 2014, that figure jumped to $2.435 billion. Much of that increase is related to the Gardiner. But Ford can take credit for spending more money on road repair.

Upgrading decades old playground equipment and building new community facilities

This, on the other hand, is a harder claim to make. Just this past September, back when Ford still had procedural powers, he made a point of attending a meeting of the Parks & Environment committee just so he could vote against a series of motions. One of those motions asked staff to look at increasing the number of playground refurbishments.

Ford’s record on child care is disastrous. In 2012, he voted against a motion that would have increased the operating budget by $670,000 to restore child care centre programming. In 2013, he voted against a motion that would have increased availability of subsidized child care.

The Regent Park community centre is part of the ongoing Regent Park revitalization, a project that started more than a decade ago. The York Community Centre has been planned since the 1990s, with funding held in reserve since amalgamation. Construction on both facilities did begin while Ford was in office, though.

Upgrading and maintaining 16 homeless shelters and building a new facility

The only recently opened city-run facility I am aware of the Peter Street Homeless Shelter. In December 2007, Rob Ford moved to remove the development of that shelter from the 2008 capital budget (page 11) in an attempt to kill the project. It didn’t work.

Last year, Ford was one of 20 councillors who voted against looking at increasing the number of shelter beds available following a rash of homeless deaths. Council did eventually vote to increase the number of beds available. Ford was the only member of council to vote against it.

Investing $10 billion, over the next 10 years, to maintain aging infrastructure in a state of good repair

In 2010, the city was planning to spend $9.8 billion over the next 10 years on state-of-good-repair. In 2014, the plan is to spend $11.4 billion. Ford hasn’t invested $10 billion in new money, but planned spending has increased a bit.

Investing $2.5 billion over the next 10 years into water mains, sewers and other vital water infrastructure

This, on the other hand, i couldn’t verify. According to Toronto Water’s latest budget, capital spending on water infrastructure peaked in 2010 and has declined since.

Created a plan of action to improve the flow of traffic at over 1000 intersections, across every corner of the city

Council did approve a congestion management plan in December 2013, so I’ll give him these ones.

Launched a comprehensive bicycle strategy

The mayor’s bike plan does include lots of off-street trail improvements, but I’m not sure I’d call it “comprehensive.” It proposes just four on-street routes. Three of them are upgrades to existing bike lanes. The only entirely new bike infrastructure included in the strategy called for lanes on Richmond or Adelaide Streets. But when a plan to study those lanes came before council in December 2011, Ford voted against it.

After a prolonged period of moving sideways, the unemployment rate in Toronto is very noticeably dropping

Nope. Latest report had Toronto’s seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate at 9.7 per cent, up from 9.2 per cent a year ago.

Chicago Business Mission: Led the largest delegation of Toronto leaders on a business mission

Ford did indeed go to Chicago. There’s photographic proof. Nobody really keeps records on mayoral delegation sizes, but Ford seems to have a decent claim to saying his was the biggest. Miller took 40 people with him to Ukraine in 2005 and just 25 to Europe. Mel Lastman once took 50 people to Italy. Ford’s delegation had 62 people in it.

So, yes, the mayor did go to Chicago with a lot of people. That’s an accomplishment I’ll give him.

Rob Ford tried to go to the Oscars but was reportedly so drunk that "heavy security" at the Oscars blocked Rob Ford from attending. Doubtlessly a video of Rob Ford drunk or high will turn up within the next few days.

Update, Monday March 3rd

According to more recent reports Rob Ford was also very hungover on Sunday morning. This may or may not be tied with him being "too drunk for the Oscars".